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Buildings Hive Been Erected Which Duphese Aboard Ship ( Con- ditions--Designed to Facilitate Checking and Educational Work ACK in the early days of con- B struction at Hog island, the idea was conceived of erecting two template ship buildings to resemble as nearly as possible the boiler and engine rooms of the A and B ships, the two types to be built at the yard. .It was believed that by such an_ installation, templates could not only be accurately made for pipe and certain other auxil- jary equipment, but that there would be yarious checking and educational ad- yantages to be derived. Subsequently, and without delay, the plan was adopted. Today, as a result, there is an installa- tion nearing completion at Hog island, which is unique in the history of the shipbuilding industry. The buildings, considering them from the standpoint of dimensions, are 38 feet high under the roof trusses, but yary in width and length, the A tem- plate building being 61x73 feet and the B template building, 64x 115 feet. The floors consist of a 10-inch concrete slab poured on 12-inch cap stringers, which in turn are supported by piling. The majority of the piles were driven last winter with considerable difficulty due to the severe weather conditions. In each of the buildings a wooden superstructure has been erected, in order that their interiors may resemble as closely as possible the boiler and engine 'rooms of the real ships when completed. These superstructures represent bulk- heads, ship sides and decks, from the inner bottom of the ships to the bridge deck on the A ship and to the shelter deck on the B ship, including also the thrust bearing recess. All such minor - details as portholes, grating, floor plates, ttc, have been carefully observed. Equipment is Complete The installation of equipment in these buildings has been pushed as rapidly as deliveries have allowed, and the work in the A structure - is now completed. Included inthe equipment set up in the aigine room is the following: Main turbine, including reduction gears and thrust bearing; main condenser, with its reulating pump and main beam air Pump; auxiliary condenser, with its combined circulating and air pump; main and auxiliary sea chest; main and auxiliary feed pumps; feed-water heater ; cating oil cooler; ballast pump; cc bilge pump; lubricating oil pump; ler pump; fresh water pump and watertight doors. for access. <As_ steel could not be secured for the heavier machinery foundations as early as de- sired, concrete was used instead. The boiler room has been equipped with three marine-type water tube boil- ers. One of these has been installed complete, while the other two have been left in semifinished stages, with a view To Instruct Workmen HIS article is the fifth nm a series describing the mam- moth shipbuilding plant at Hog island. The other articles pub- lished in THE Marine REVIEW are: "Facts About the Hog Island Yard,' by George J. Baldwin, March, 1918; "World's Greatest Shipyard at Hog Island Now Busy Building Ships to Win the War," by E. C. Kreutzberg, June, 1918; "Handling Materials at Hog Is- land," by H. Cole Estep, July, 1918; "Hog Island's Compressed Air System," by B. K. Price, August, 1918; a special section in the Sep- tember, 1918, issue, which contained a number of special articles includ- ing an analysis of the yard's or- ganization, and also a pictorial his- tory of the yard. Mr. Price in the accompanying article outlines the development at Hog island of a novel idea by which practical checking and educa- tional work is done in a' template shop built and equipped to repro- duce actual. conditions aboard ship. to affording better opportunity for in- struction. The superheaters will be similiarly treated. Fuel oil manifolds, fuel oil service, and fuel oil burners have been connected up. : By the installation of equipment in these buildings, one of the original contentions of the officials is being borne out in that many interferences such as would not have been observed on paper, are becoming apparent before too late to rectify. It is stated that on the A ship alone several thousand dollars have been saved in time and money. Usually, with but one or two ships to be built from the same plans, such an expedient as a safeguard and check would be impracticable; however, with 467 | > required. By B. K. Price 180 ships to be erected, 110 from one set of plans and the remaining 70 from another, and with machinery coming in from. all parts of the country, the in- stallation of these buildings is being found a desirable precaution. While the structures upon comple- tion will have practically fulfilled all checking purposes, they will remain to serve as..a training school, aid: to facilitate the production of templates for pipe and certain other equipment. In each of the ships to be built at Hog island, it is stated that at least 80 miles of piping will be installed. . Of - this amount, perhaps 80 per cent will be straight runaway pipe, while the re- maining 20 per cent will be of such design as to warrant, in the building of standardized ships, the use of tem- plates. For the purpose of making these templates, an auxiliary building, ad- jacent to those containing the ship models, has been equipped with wood- working machinery. Less Fitting-Up Required By applying the use of templates, the work of fitting up on board ship, such as would be necessary under old meth- ods, will be considerably reduced. It was thought at one time that practically no adjusting on board' ship would be However, experience has shown that despite the fact that ships may be erected from identical plans, there will always be a creep which necessitates some work of this nature being done, particularly in the installa- tion of the longer pipe lengths. This work, though, is expedited materially by the use of. fitting pieces. In an educational way, the buildings have already proved advantageous. Men installing the machinery have been thus enabled to go from the template buildings to the ways thoroughly fa- miliar with the auxiliary equipment. In the future, the buildings will afford a place where the engineers and_ their assistants, who will afterward man the 180 ships to be erected at the Hog island yard, can receive instruction, and will unquestionably contribute mate- rially to the nation-wide program of training men for America's rapidly grow- ing merchant marine. Steamers in use in service on the: Gulf of Mexico are appearing for the first time in coats of camouflage paint.